A Tale of Six Trillion Years and One Night
by Ten-Faced
Summary: And the sunset watches as the forsaken child called a demon learns of the warmth of humanity by a stranger's hand. All human. Will be continued. Implied, underlying Silver/Blaze. Being re-written.


The boy craned his head, trying to see as much as the sunset as possible through the small window. Steel bars interrupted the picture, and he only saw a small fragment of the entire artwork presented by nature, but still, it warmed his eternally cold body for the moment.

_It's so pretty…._

And indeed, the sunset was truly a beautiful thing, the blazing sun sinking slowly amongst the clouds dyed gold and red, the skies pink in a way that was so soft and comforting. _Here I go,_ the sun seemed to say to the entire world_. But do not mourn me, for I will be back. And while the night is here, and I am gone, keep the image of my leave in your mind to hold against your heart._

It was a nice thought. Nice for someone who wasn't supposed to know anything, who wasn't really supposed to exist.

Inside the dark cell built of cracked bricks and mortar, the boy with dirty white hair sunk to his knees, leaning against the wall for support. A large, bulky manacle wrapped around his right wrist, connected with thick links holding together a sturdy chain kept his already limited roaming distances within the cell quite restricted, but he ignored it, used to the feeling by now.

Half-heartedly, he rubbed the skin beneath the tempered steel, wishing that he, too, could leave like the sun. Leave in the glorious blaze of pink and red and gold and orange, and never come back to this place where he couldn't dream, couldn't die, where he didn't know a thing, where he was so cold no matter what.

...

_"Look at his eyes!"_

_There was a gasp following the words of the headman. "Why, they're gold," one woman muttered. "Gold as the washed ring my husband gave me for my hand."_

_"And his hair!" the headman continued, voice booming over the voice of all the villagers. "Is that not a sign of demonic presence? What normal creature has such hair as he?"_

_"White," the crowd murmured to each other. "Why, whiter than an old man's, yet he can't be older than all the fingers on two hands."_

_"What is he then, if not a demon boy?"_

_He crouched against the wall, cowering at the words, the cruel and hateful glares at him, the torches being waved around. Had he done something wrong?_

_"Demon child!" The crowd roared, waving pitchforks and torches. "Demon child, demon child!"_

_Rough, rash men grabbed him, throwing him back and forth like a toy as they lashed out with their feet, fists, even a club. He cried out in pain, but no one came to his aid. Rather, they laughed and cheered._

'Won't someone help me?'

_The headman, unexpectedly, came to his rescue, though it was to be a mixed blessing. "Enough!"_

_The youths stopped, though rather reluctantly._

_"Do not you know that to kill a demon without ritual would taint our lands unto centuries?"_

_The youths hung their heads, though through the shame the bloodlust shone through. Crying softly in pain and confusion, he hugged himself and curled up._

_"Let us chain him up with holy steel and give him naught but the foods that had been blessed, until he has no demonic trace within him strong enough to sully our lands!"_

_The crowd was nothing but a headless follower. Within days, a cell had been constructed for him, as well as chains that had been blessed. Around his right wrist it was secured, and into the prison where the only light came from the small window at the top of the wall._

_And he still did not know what had happened._

...

"A demon, you say?"

The voice of the veiled woman disturbed the villagers greatly. Imperial, it was, as if she was the empress in all her robes of silk and jewels instead of the plain, veiled person who had come riding horseback into their town at their request of a slayer from the Freedom Fighters. Yet, there was a distinctly superior tone to her voice, as if she didn't _think_ herself better than them, but she simply _was_.

The headman nodded eagerly. "Yes, demon slayer," he smiled, his oily grin matching his voice, but it was fake, phony after the taste of the natural leadership the woman –no, girl – had in her voice. "Such a terrible thing, and it won't even die! Our village has suffered from it much, yes it has. It took many brave souls to trap the hideous creature."

Her eyes and hair was hidden by the light lavender veil; yet the tips of her lips twitched. In amusement, perhaps? Or was it scorn? "So many has lost their lives at the hands of this demon?"

"Well, no," the headman admitted. "But still! It costs us heavy to feed the things with blessed food, it does."

"I see," her gaze seemed to be directed at the lone building on the hill. "Very well, then. I shall exorcise it."

A cheer rose from the gathered villagers. Finally, the demon child would be gone from their lives forever. The headman, however, had a small frown of discomfort. Just as she had suspected. He'd been using the 'demon' as an excuse to keep in power.

Blaze, given the name 'the Cat' in the Freedom Fighters, doubted that it was an actual demon in there. Probably some poor kid with colour displacement.

Still, she placed the enchantments for protection around the cell in case the demon killed her and broke out of the prison. "Do not enter the circle if you value your lives," she warned the curious villagers. "Once in, you won't be able to break loose without being drained of all your life force."

They kept away.

Smoothing her veils, she entered the cell with the key given to her.

...

The door creaked open. Eyes widened in shock and surprise – for who came directly into the lair of their demon child? – the boy looked to see a strange creature. The body of a human, for sure, but the head had no face, nothing but a curtain of lavender that swayed slightly.

He stumbled as he scrambled back, until his own back clothed in nothing but rags hit the coldness of the bricks.

The creature gasped in light shock. Most likely at seeing his eyes. Perhaps this was a demon child as well, and hadn't been expecting to see one like him.

He didn't expect the next movement by this creature. It lowered itself onto its knees, and looked closer at his face. No one looked closely at his face after seeing his hair and eyes. Despite the strange newness of it all, he was intrigued.

"Hello."

In wonder – it spoke! – he held out a trembling finger to the swaying lavender, coming closer and closer until he was almost there, almost touching it. At the last minute, he yanked it back, fearing for a blow that he didn't know the reason for.

It never came.

"My veil?" the creature spoke again, and he marvelled in the voice. Higher than his, it was soft but strong, like a song about never giving up. The creature lifted its hands and messed around with something on the back of its head, and removed the lavender sheet easily, revealing the face of a girl and purple hair in a ponytail.

The girl had yellow eyes.

He'd never been able to see his own eyes, of course, but from the stories of the villagers, he had picked up that it was the gold in the sunset he liked to watch every day. This girl's eyes were of that colour.

"What's your name?"

Name? What was his name? He didn't remember it. He didn't remember if he even had one. He shook his head in apology. He didn't know.

"Those idiots," she muttered, clenching a fist. He cringed. Fists meant punches, which meant pain.

She seemed to have realized. "Oh, sorry, not you."

He relaxed. No one with a voice like that, something like the sound of sunset if sunset had a voice, would lie to him, right? He smiled tentatively.

Then, she frowned, but not quite at him. She was glaring at the manacle on his right wrist. Something metallic in her hand, she reached out and did something to his long-time jailor. With a click, it sprang open, releasing his wrist, just like that.

Not truly believing his luck, he walked to the edge of the room where he'd never been able to reach, and touched the corner. A slow smile spread over his lips. He was free! Free of that chain!

He came back, careful to not touch the metal snake of links, and sat in his spot in front of her, patiently waiting for her to finish her thoughts.

She just sat there, biting her lips and occasionally glancing at him. He sat there, leaning against the wall, content for once. It was a strange experience, but it was nice.

Finally, when the time for sunset was soon, she stood, clearly having made a decision. "Would you like to come with me?" her voice was soft, but it was still the lovely sound of sunset. If sunset had a sound, that was.

Leave? Leave this small prison that had been his entire world for so many sunsets? He was scared. What if more people beat him outside?

But the girl's eyes were so gentle and calm, so reassuring, and she sounded like what should have been the sound of sunset…

He nodded.

She took his hand. "Let's leave, then," and holding his hand, she led him out, just when the sun began to set and the colours, the full colours instead of part of the picture he'd always seen, danced and burned in front of his eyes. Jaws wide, he saw, saw the trees, the wide, wide sky, and the far side from the sun where it was still a blue, though night and its darkness had began to creep in.

And even with the screams of the villagers at the sight of him, the warmth of the stranger girl's hand was the only thing real to him, as well as the sunset.

He wasn't so cold anymore.

* * *

Own nothing, first Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic. I'm sure everyone noticed, but it was all humans. Based on song, 'A Tale of Six Trillion Years and One Night' by IA. May or may not be continued.


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